


Weapon in Copero

by FullMetamorphosis



Series: The Empire's Weapon [1]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Human Weapon, I'm not good at tagging things, Mouth trauma, Multi, Polyamory, Traitor Among the Chiss, broken relationships, copero, medical needles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-15 10:10:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13611177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FullMetamorphosis/pseuds/FullMetamorphosis
Summary: "I'm going to bring you home, Theron."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> At last, you can find Weapon in Copero all in one place! Sent over from tumblr, just for you. <3
> 
> Simple summary is: Lana Beniko gets to do all the gameplay stuff in Copero, because there is no way the Outlander is going to waste time when they could get Theron back.
> 
> Yadda yadda, typical fight stuff, though I will warn there's (mild) mouth trauma in the end if that's not for you. It's not graphic, just so you know.
> 
> Remember to leave kudos and a comment if you can - I live off of the approval of others. :D

Every nerve feels alight - every nerve organic and synthetic. It’s like even the beskar in my body is reacting, humming with energy, and if that’s the case then it explains the restless unease in my legs, my arms, my ribs. Either that, or Aristocra Sanagu isn’t as good a pilot as he makes himself out to be, but the rumbling of ships has never bothered me before, and not to this level.

Lana can’t sit still either, and I watch her as we begin our descent onto Copero, the way she paces across the bulk of the ship. She paces, and she glares at everybody except for me, and I can feel her impatience in my mind like a thorn. Raina Temple sits off to one side, patient. Military. But I lean against the doors instead, and wait, and  _wait_.

We must be a skyscraper’s height from land when-

_Bang_.

I double over with a gasp and clutch at my gut. The feeling overwhelms my mind and fastens into my limbs, the warmth of my hands and the tips of my fingers. Every cybernetic in my body activates, and my vision fills with blue as systems suddenly override in front of my eyes, as screens warn me of rising heartbeat, fever, just a few steps from the weapon I’d always been-

“COMMANDER!”

I’m turning and ripping the door open, and Lana’s behind me, screaming at me, but I can feel him in my mind and I can  _sense_  him and I don’t need any of this, not politics nor civility, because he’s  _here_ , I see him, and my bones are ready, this body that’s been tamed and mind rewritten are  _ready_.

“ _Theron Shan_. I’m coming for you.”

I’m falling to the earth, and my partner’s screams are still echoing in my mind, but I hit the ground rolling and I  _run_.

_I’m going to bring you home, Theron._


	2. Chapter 2

_Theron._

_Chiss. Chiss…Valss of House Inrokini._

_Altar. Ancient technology._

_Bomb._

My mind barely perceives anything outside of the hologlass across my eyes, and the targets they jump across. My limbs feel sore, sore from running and climbing, and if my mind had even the slightest chance of processing anything apart from each moment I’m in, I’d know where I was and why. But all of that is behind me, blank and blind in the mind of the weapon I’d been built to be.

They’re talking, and Theron has the bomb in his hand. He’s placing it on the technology they stand across from. And they start turning to me- cut off and stalled by the sudden hum of my lightsabers.

“ _Stop right there_.”

Theron’s eyes go wide. “Holy  _shi_ -”

“So,” the Chiss - Valss - says, stepping before Theron and closer to me. “You’re the Commander of the Alliance. Theron said you might come for us, but I’m not sure we anticipated finding you here so soon.”

_Leaped from shuttle - sensed -_  “I’m taking Theron back. Your house has made dire mistakes, Valss. And you’ll pay for them.”

“Valss-” Theron grabs him by the shoulder and pulls him back. “You can’t beat them. Not  _now_. You’d never win, not when they’re in this state.”

I feel my lips twist into a snarl. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be, Theron.”

“You’re the one destined for victory, Shan. Not me.” Valss shakes him off and steps closer. He pulls out his own lightsaber - my target locks onto it as he activates it, a cooler yellow than my own.

_Force Sensitive - mentally strong - physically strong._

_Untrained._

**Dead**.

“You’re going to give Theron back,” I hiss, and I fling myself at him with a scream.


	3. Chapter 3

_Fast._

_Miscalculated. Stronger than expected. Agile. Quick-_

Block. Slash. Block. Pierce. Dodge. Dive. Rise. Lunge. Block. Slash.

Hit.

_Hithithithit_ -

My own scream breaks me out of my focus as his lightsaber drives against my ribs. Beskar as they’re made, I can feel them trying to give way with the force of the strike, and it’s so painful my hologlass glitches and my whole body jerks with it. The Force within me pulses, and explodes out wide enough to knock Valss back.

Blood. I’m bleeding, my hands beginning to shake with their grip, even at something as simple as the sight of red staining my shirt. My lightsaber drops to the floor deactivated as I clutch at the gash, frantically trying to stem the flow of blood as my adrenaline begins to fade.

_Bleeding - I didn’t bring any kolto-!_

“VALSS! WE HAVE TO GO!”

My eyes snap to Theron, across the room, blaster in his hand and his gaze focused on the Chiss who was- who was  _ignoring_  him, running at me, and  _I can’t, I can’t fight yet, my mind, I can’t stay weaponized_ -

I draw air into my lungs in a ditch effort, and I  _scream_.

The walls and floor of the room begin to crumble as the sound goes out, and I watch Valss’s expression turn from confidence to sheer alarm as he drops his saber and claps his hands over his ears. That in itself is enough, but a sudden overwhelming explosion hits me from the side, and I’m knocked to the floor with it, head slamming against the ground hard enough to make my vision shake.

My screaming stops. In stacked images, I can watch Theron run across the room and grab at a fallen figure - Valss had been knocked down as well. I’m paralyzed, fighting to get to my hands and knees, but Theron only spares me a look - my lover, and it’s only a  _glance_  - as he runs with Valss’s arm slung over his shoulder.

They disappear through the open corridor and down the stairs. I let them. My head is shaking still, and I push myself to my hands and knees as my hologlass activates again.

_No concussion. Minor damage sustained to right-side cybernetics-_  as if on queue, the right glass glitches and disappears, and my ear gives a pulse of pain. The implant is loose - I reach up to my ear and confirm it.  _That explosion must’ve been the bomb Theron set on that device - that could send me into shock. The gash in my ribs isn’t fatal, either, but I need kolto. I’d bleed out in only half an hour more, and then I’d really be fucked._

I close my mouth. The tip of my tongue presses back, feeling against warm durasteel in my mouth, and all I think is  _it’s still intact, the stim, and if I used it now …_

Beeping, from nearby. My eyes lift to where Valss had fallen, and I see in his place is a small pack, wrapped in white. I force myself to my feet. My gait is shoddy, and I’m clutching my side haphazardly, but I finally reach the pack and kneel down to pick it up.

_Kolto_.

Did Valss drop it from the explosion? Or did Theron leave it, think that I would-? No. No, it doesn’t matter, not when they’re getting away and surely planning on leaving the planet, and my time to recover is limited.

I’m a weapon. I was built to be a weapon, but a weapon cannot perform if it’s not maintained and fine-tuned.

If only I was tuned well enough.


	4. Chapter 4

I’m breathing hard, even as I stumble towards the wall with the kolto pack in my hand. It’s the anxiety, brought on by the proximity of the explosion, and it’s making it harder and harder for me to think. It was a consequence of going into such an adrenalized state. I’d end up coming out of it rather harshly and into an anxiety attack quickly.

But I can’t get swept up in the anxiety, not yet. I brace my back to the wall and slide down to the floor. I pick apart the pack with shaking hands. There’s the typical supplies - antiseptic, bandages, even pieces for stitches. The kolto is at the bottom of the mess, and when I see it I can’t help but give a shuddering groan.

It’s an IV pack. A kolto administered with a needle - and I  _hate_  needles. Even worse as administering them myself, when I have no choice but to watch the needle sink into a vein, and in a state like this, shaking and pushing off a complete meltdown- no. No, I had no choice, I think as I quickly swab the inside of my elbow and steel myself. This would’ve been easier if somebody was with me, but I’m alone. Alone, still chasing after my lover, and completely lost on his signature as long as I’m focused on injury.

It’s the thought of Theron - and Lana - that makes me curl my toes and force the IV into a vein. I cry out, feet kicking out from pain and anxiety, and I release the needle and lean back with eyes closed, and heel of my hand smacking against my forehead as I shake and shudder with every breath.

It’s  _stupid_.

Fourteen years, I had been this weapon, constructed by the Empire. Fourteen years of bloodshed and strategy and warfare, but all it took was a  _needle_  to unhinge me. For as much as I learned about medical safety, preparation, and the rest, it was always the needles that scared me the most. It made the implant in my mouth seem even more ridiculous, but it had been a necessity. Even if I didn’t have to administer needles all the time, in a situation like this …

_The Empire’s Weapon_ , Valkorion had told me once,  _And yet the most trivial things frighten you. Do you imagine these would be excuses? That they’d save you from your duties?_

Valkorion had gotten under my skin like the Jedi Order and my own parents had - except in his case, I couldn’t escape. In fact, I had no choice but to rush in headlong, quickly released from carbonite, flown away, and made into the Commander of an alliance I had only had partial credit in constructing. Thinking about it makes me want to scream, and scream I  _had_. Valkorion had tucked away all the parts of my mind that wouldn’t make me ideal a vessel for him, but with his destruction came the shadow of his memory, as well as the return of my disorders. Three years without those disorders made me forget what it was like to struggle with them.

And that’s why I’m still sitting against a wall…with a needle in my arm…waiting for kolto to fill my body.

_Waiting_  while one of my advisors and lovers fled.

There’s a beeping by my hip, and I startle. When I open my eyes at last, I can see the needle in my arm (thankfully inserted properly) and the light green of the kolto traveling through my shallowest veins. Already, my side is feeling better, the blood slowing to a trick and the skin beginning to mend. I reach down for my holocomm, and answer the call.

“What on earth were you  _thinking_?!”

Oh. Oh dear.  _Lana._  I put my face in my free hand. “Oh, shoot. I completely forgot.”

“Yes, I imagine you would forget jumping from a starship and running off without the rest of us! Aristocra Sanagu isn’t pleased. Neither am I,” Lana replies with a cross of her arms and a scowl. “You worried me sick.”

“I’m sorry, love. I just-” I close my eyes and try to remember. “I could sense him, and it hit me like a gutpunch. I had to go find him - couldn’t wait. And I found him, but it’s not like I remember the journey.”

Her tone changes in surprise. “You did?”

“He was with a Force-sensitive Chiss, named Valss. My implants had picked up on Copero’s database I g-g-g-guess-” I wince and slap a hand over my broken cybernetics. “Ugh, sorry. We fought. He blew up some big console and broke my implants.”

“The Chiss, or Theron?”

“Theron, I think. He must’ve activated it before Valss could attack me, or-” I scrunch my brow, trying to remember. “Wait- did he? I’m not sure. Either way I was i-i-injured and-”

“ _Injured_?”

“I took a hit to my ribs, nothing awful. They’re healing up fine. But Valss was coming in to attack me again and the explosion w-went off.” I hear her curse. “Wait - it sounds like you know something.”

“We found Syndic Zenta, and fought her. According to her, and Raina, Theron and Valss were after a map to the location of some kind of weapon. A Sith weapon - and you and I both know what that means.”

“…they were looking for me?”

She rolls her eyes. “Well, you’re far too mobile for a map, love. And you aren’t the only weapon they had. Regardless,” I watch her pinch her brow in frustration. “If they destroyed the map, then that means they know where to go next. Which means they’ll be leaving Copero soon.”

_Soon_. I sit up straighter and reach out with my mind. “Theron is …  _ow_ , I g-g-g-get it-” I wince as my cybernetics try to come to life, though only half of them really work. “He’s several miles off. I think he must’ve left his ship somewhere farther off. I didn’t pass a ship on the way up here. If I move now-”

“You’re injured, Commander!”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m going to find him and bring him home. For  _both_  of us.” I look down at my side. It’s still bruised, but mostly sealed up, and no longer bleeding. I give a single glance to my elbow before tearing out the IV, dropping it to the floor but shoving the rest in my back pocket. “I think I can sense the location of his ship, if I try hard enough. I … yeah. I’m sending you coordinates.”

“We’ll try to meet you in time. In the meantime, Syndic Zenta is awaiting execution or else imprisonment. Aristocra Sanagu suggested if we assassinated her, he’d be willing to forge an alliance, but I wanted your feedback before I-”

I push myself to my feet and I reach into my pocket, clasping a small tool of durasteel. I glance down to her once, and walk back to the open edge of the tower.

“Then execute her,” I tell her, before cutting the communication short and throwing myself back into the chase.


	5. Chapter 5

We’d started out as enemies.

To be fair, I didn’t start out my career with a great reputation, and with a background of a Republican defector, I wasn’t bound to make allies across the pond. Everybody in the Jedi Order, naturally, wasn’t very pleased to hear of my turn. Word of it got to Satele Shan, who was even  _less_  than pleased.

And like mother, I suppose, like son.

We met on Manaan on sour terms; I remember clearly raising a brow to Lana as she explained about our “new ally”, and sending a glare to the SIS agent who’d joined our ranks.

“Oh, yes,” I said dryly, “I’m sure you know the  _Empire’s Weapon_  well enough. I never did get along with spies.”

“And I never got along with traitors,” he’d answered with crossed arms, “Yet here we are.”

“Lana, I hate him already,” I’d informed her, and couldn’t help but notice the blush that rose to her cheeks.

She shook her head. “Sometimes,” she said, “You have to work past your feelings in order to accomplish good things. Surely you know that.”

I did. I did know that, back in a time where I still raged against the people who’d bore me, and the ones who’d trained me to make my illnesses into weapons against myself. Theron reminded me of all of it. The casual arrogance in his voice, and his certainty that  _he knew best_ , all drove me up the wall. And that lasted until well past Manaan, into their stay on Rishi, and then my return to them. It was only then that we became friends - closer than I’d let anybody else before. Turns out complete desertion on a paradise planet, anonymous with the same damn people to stare at twenty-four seven, was enough to bridge the gasps in loyalties.

“Your mom did you wrong, Theron, and you’re right to be angry about that. I wish I knew what advice to give you, but I’m still not over everything that was done to me by  _my_  folks. Hell, I joined the Empire because of that.”

“Not just,” he said. He took a sip of his drink and stared off into space as he clinked it back down on the table. “There are times I’m damn glad I wasn’t born with the Force. I would’ve made an awful Jedi.”

“The Jedi Order focuses on people who are already extremely adept and in-tune with their mentality and emotional states. They don’t teach how to work with your emotions, or sustain a wellness in mind; they assume you can do it and push it to the bottom of their priorities. And they’re arrogant with their path. They believe it’s just, that it’s perfect, and that it never has to change. In that way, they’re like the Sith. The two are more alike than dissimilar.”

“Sounds like you’ve put thought into it.”

“I have. A lot.”

“There were so many expectations put on my back as a kid. Even when it turned out I didn’t have the Force. Satele wasn’t super happy about that; of course, she withheld that from me, but it was pretty easy to tell as I got older, especially when the war started and I got booted to my dad. Nah - if I couldn’t be a Jedi, I’d be somebody or something important. Turns out that important thing was the SIS. It’s damn good that I like it, too, or I would’ve been in big trouble.” He hums and gestures to my cup. “Would’ve ended up a little more like you.”

“Well, my parents weren’t Grand Masters, or high in authority,” I answer as I pick up my drink and swirl it in its cup. “I certainly grew up with pressure, and with repression. But at least that pressure wasn’t so great as yours.”

“Wonder what it was like for Lana.”

“I don’t know much about her past,” I say, and turn my eyes down to the table. “Usually I take people’s histories really seriously, but her … I feel like she speaks for herself. She’s so …  _assertive_. In a good way.”

“She’s one of the few good Sith I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.”

“She’s not bashing your head in. That’s a major plus.”

We’d laughed then - laughed, and laughed. Even in the darkest of times, we’d understood one another, and found ways to cooperate. Even as we both coveted the same woman as we coveted each other, all in secret, we maintained this strange bond that had started off so harshly and suddenly before. We were like untimed rainstorms, never quite knowing when to start but bringing with them harsh downpours and lightning and zero visibility.

That visibility had never scared me until now.

I rush through the cold mountains of Copero and ignore most of the puzzles that come in my way - while Lana would solve them meticulously, or Theron simply find a shortcut, I didn’t bother, didn’t care of intricacies. Even in a headspace different from a weapon, I can’t slow down, can’t take the easy route.

I wonder if this had been part of Theron’s plan all along. If he was always searching for something to bring peace, no matter the cost. I had tried,  _am trying_ , to bring peace, but it feels like no matter what I do, I’m always too far away. I’m always on the outskirts of that peace, trying to take hold but always finding it slip through my grasp. I’m trying so hard to be the leader that people need and want, but I just can’t get close enough.

I wonder if Theron knows that.

“I can’t do this alone,” I say through grit teeth as I push myself,  _push_ , to make my legs move faster, to make my breaths fuller. “I  _need_  you, Theron Shan.  _We_  need you. You’re more important to this peace that you know. And I can’t lose you yet.”


	6. Chapter 6

The ruins are rushing up to meet my vision. The ruins - and the ship lingering nearby, situated near the tops of still-standing pillars. I can see the two figures climbing in. I can sense his mind as he fights against my own.

_Theron Shan_.

I can hear the ship’s engines through the buzzing in my ears, and I stretch my hand out as I giving a horrific  _shriek_. Explosions come from the ship, make it falter. Minor damage.  _That’s all I need_.

“END OF THE LINE, THERON!” I hear behind me. I recognize that voice. Lana. Another sound, a missile shooting off from behind me and into the hull of the ship. More damage. More time.

“NO, VALSS! YOU CAN’T WIN!”

The Chiss is jumping from the ship, shouting something to Theron, but I don’t care. I can see  _him_  now, really clearly. I grab for the tool at my waist.

Hand on my shoulder. “Love, you  _can’t_ -”

I shake off Lana’s grip. The tiny wrench, I lift it to my lips, and I slide it against the implant in the back of my mouth. I can sense the sudden shock in Theron’s mind. The sudden reaching out, as if he could stop me-

I grip the fake tooth and  _pull_.

_BLEEDING BLEEDING BLEEDING SUSTAINED INJURY BLEEDING-_

I shoot into the sky. Past Valss, past the pillars, crashing into the ship as it starts to rise to the sky. Men are shouting. I’m grabbing for the doors, but three men are shoving the doors closed, and I see a sliver of Theron’s surprise as the door slams shut.

_BANG. BANG_.

The men inside are shouting. Shouting, because my fists are leaving harsh dents in the door, fighting to break through. My growls make blood and spittle drip down the doors. I scream again, fingers digging into steel. Each slam coming from the strength of my shoulder and into my fist.

“ _I T-TRUSTED YOU, THERON SH-SH-SHAN!”_

So many open minds. So many minds to feed to fear.

“ _I T-T-TRUSTED YOU WITH MY LIFE, TH-THERON!”_

A flurries of hits. A well-worn, crackling crater. I pull back my fist one last time.

“ _I WON’T ALLOW YOU T-T-TO ESCAPE AND RUIN EV-VERYTHING, YOU T-T- **TRAITOR** -!”_

 

_Eden._

I stop. My whole body freezes and goes cold. His mind is blossoming open, like a lotus, and it’s so all-encompassing that my mind and body can hardly handle it. It’s crystal-clear, after so long of it being closed. My grip on the side of the ship falters. The blood pools in my mouth, frigid against my teeth.

 

_Eden, I’m … I’m sorry._

I hear the skittering of little droid limbs against the steel exterior. I turn to look at them with wide eyes, and I see the cluster of them preparing shots, and I act on instinct.

I let go.

_Theron_  …

I feel my body fall as I desperately reach out one more time - and feel him disappear as the ship blasts away and out of my reach.


	7. Chapter 7

The isolated war room is quiet.

My fingers tap against the buttons quickly, trying to pull up old files and information that Aristocra Sanagu had requested shortly before we left Copero. My whole head aches; my cheek is still swollen, and my tongue idly swipes and presses at the empty space where my implant used to be. I can still feel the divot where the needle had pressed in before being pulled, dosing me with the extra adrenaline it seemed I never really used. Maybe that was the reason Theron had reached out. Maybe he knew, in some way, that surprising me like that would make me stop.

I wish I wasn’t so  _weak_.

… he has to be more than a traitor.

There are soft footprints approaching from behind, but I recognize the precense in the back of my mind. I lift my head from the keyboard. It feels strange to talk, given the swelling in my cheek and the remnant taste of blood, but I do it anyway, as evenly as I can.

“Well? What’s been the response from the Chiss?”

She sounds tired - more tired than I’ve ever heard. “Publically, there’s been outcry from the majority of the planet about our actions and behavior -  _your_  behavior - on the surface. They’re condemning the Alliance for their actions there; however, Aristocra Sanagu is still pledging his support, and focusing most of the outrage on Syndic Zenta. There haven’t been any particular outcries against any  _one_  person, however.”

“Let them blame me. I’m used to being the scapegoat.”

“That’s not-”

“How goes the holomap? Any information?”

“… we’ve managed to recover fragments of the map. I’m personally leading the team of engineers we have working on it. Nobody sleeps until-”

“No. I’m barring you from leading that team.”

“ _Excuse me_ , but I believe I can make my own decisions on that front.”

“Right now, Lana, you’re my only advisor, and I  _need_  you at my side. And besides, you’ve been running yourself ragged. Raina told me enough of your exploits on Copero, too,” I say as I turn to her, sitting back against the computer with a soft frown. “I know how this has been getting to you, but you can’t push yourself past your own limits. Not if we’re going to bring him home.”

“Isn’t that what  _you_  did, Commander? Are you aware of how far you fell from that ship? As if it wasn’t enough to break  _one_  implant, you had to break the other side, too. You’re lucky that fall wasn’t fatal!”

I sigh and rub my temples. “I  _hate_  it when you call me Commander.”

“ _Eden_ , it’s as you said. We’ve already lost Theron. We can’t lose you, too.”

“‘We’? Or ‘you’?”

She slaps her hand against her own forehead and lets out a growl. “ _Eden!_  You’re being  _stubborn_!”

“Yeah! What a big surprise! How dare I be so goddamn stubborn when I spent  _hours_  with him in my head?! When it was all I could do to  _not_  try to cling to his mind! You can thank the fucking weaponization they made me undergo in the Academy - all I could think of was him!”

“And you think I wasn’t doing the same? Fearing for his safety and yours?!”

“I-” I shut my eyes and grit my teeth. She’s right. I  _know_  she’s right, that she was worried sick, but I’m too tired to argue, and not with the one lover I have left at my side. “Okay,  _okay_. I- I’m sorry. I don’t want to fight. Copero was  _stressful_. And now we’ve lost our lead. All of our leads except for that damned map.”

“Then you’ll  _understand_  why I’m wanting to lead the project.”

“No. Dr. Oggurobb can handle it. We have the rest of the Alliance to manage - this war to mediate.” I open my eyes and look her in the eyes. It’s easy to see how exhausted Lana is; the dark rings under her eyes, the toussle of her hair. The way her eyes hint at green. She’s running on fumes, too - for my sake, and for Theron’s. Even her shawl is coming undone. I push myself off the machine and step closer to her, giving a glance in request before I reach up and begin to straighten her scarf.

“This war will mean little,” she says, quieter than before, “If this group of his manages to destroy the galaxy first.”

“Then it’s time to call in some favors. Empress Acina may not be enthralled about helping us right now, but Darth Vowrawn still owes me favors, and liked me before I went missing. If I reach out to him, he’ll keep an eye on Imperial space for Theron.”

“And the Republic?”

There’s a weight in her voice just from mentioning it. I nod in understanding as I pull the end of her shawl through its clasp, and finish with my hands pressed against her collar. “There might be a load more favors to call in there,” I admit, “But we’ll make it work. Maybe ask Aric. Him, maybe some of the Grey Jedi who came from there. Either way, we’ll make sure we have monitors there. That’s work we’ll get done  _together_. I promise you that.”

“Even if it’s just the two of us, to be doing that work …”

I press my lips together. And then I look her in the eyes, and settle my hands on her shoulders. “I was thinking of … of Torian.”

“Does he have experience in advisement?”

“No - but he can learn. Aric has to be with the troops, Quinn’s managing security, and T7′s too embedded in their work to be taken away. But Torian’s smart, and level-headed. For as much as I’d hate to deem him a …replacement … he’s best suited to aid us. For now.”

“He’s a Mandalorian.”

“Yes,” I pause. “But,” I add, “Times are different. This is the fate of the galaxy at stake. Imperial and Republic sides don’t matter right now. If we’re going to save everybody-”

“-like we always do?”

“-then yes. He’s my first choice. I’d trust him with my life and yours.”

Lana presses her lips together, like she does when she’s in thought. Then she follows with a soft sigh, and her eyes close. “I suppose I don’t have any alternatives to suggest,” she agrees. “But if that’s your choice, you’ll have to act on it shortly. We don’t have time to waste.”

“I know,” I say. I lean closer, and kiss her temple. “We’re going to get Theron back, Lana. I promise.”

I feel her going soft against me, her body pressing closer to mine, and - finally - her weight pressing into my arms as she sinks into my embrace.

“If that’s what we have to hope for, then I’ll try to believe, just a little longer.”


End file.
